Graeme Souness has backed up Wayne Rooney's claim that some Manchester United players are hiding behind their injuries to avoid criticism this season. 

A bare-bones United lost 1-0 against Arsenal on Sunday after Leandro Trossard's first-half goal and are at risk of missing out on European football altogether.

Several first-team regulars were once again ruled out at Old Trafford with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez watching from afar.

Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Raphael Varane were also among those to miss out, forcing Erik ten Hag to cobble together a misshapen side against the league leaders.

But Rooney has little sympathy for United's squad and even accused some of using their injuries as an excuse to duck out of the firing line during a horror campaign. 

Now, Souness has revealed this damning allegation was also made to him.

He told talkSPORT: 'Right now, they are bang average and that is putting it politely. The performance they put in at Palace was beyond shocking.

'As a group of players, they didn't realise from the first minute to the last, they didn't realise they were playing for Manchester United. It was a miserable performance.

'I didn't hear Wayne Rooney say it, but he was saying that some players are not wanting to play for the first team.

'I can tell you, without giving any comments away, I've heard that from someone who is a reliable source.

'There's some players at Manchester United who are available to play, but are choosing not to play at this time.'

Rooney, United's all-time record scorer, had ripped into United's flops in a damning assessment and insisted that Ten Hag's digs at their attitude should sting.

'Some of those players can play, 100 per cent,' Rooney said. 'Because they're getting a little bit of stick, it's easy for players to stay out and come back towards the FA Cup final and get themselves right for the European Championships.

'The players who have been injured are not filling themselves with any credit at the minute and the manager is taking all the stick for it.

'I think the players have to really look at themselves, because when you've got your manager doing an interview and he's talking about attitude, and players' attitude not being right to play for Manchester United, that is a massive insult. 

'If I see my manager saying that, then there's no way I just let that ride until the end of the season. It looks like some players are trying to get to the end of the season.'